Comfort and Joy
by jeffsgoldenbloom
Summary: This is my gift to verklemptia on tumblr as a part of the 2014 Rumbelle Secret Santa. The prompt was "fuzzy blankets, hot cocoa, gifts"


Belle was humming as she moved throughout their kitchen with a broom. This is how Rumplestiltskin found her when he came home from town. It was Christmas Eve, and the sky was dark with the promise of oncoming snow. Rumple normally would have been at home, but he and Belle had been so wrapped up in each other that he forgot her gift at the shop. They had finally rekindled their relationship after months of lies and deceit. It was a long and painful process, but with some counseling from Archie, time spent apart, and Belle's unfailing love for Rumplestiltskin, they had been able to get through their rough patch. Both Rumple and Belle were spending their first Christmas together as a married couple, and they planned to spend it completely with each other, just enjoying each others' company, and basking in their new-found love for one another.

Belle turned around in the middle of a verse to see Rumple standing behind her, just staring with a look of adoration on his face.

"Oh! You scared me!" Belle exclaimed as she dropped the broom. "I didn't hear you come in"

"I was just admiring my beautiful wife" Rumplestiltskin replied, as he approached her with a small grin, the broom long forgotten. He took her into his arms and kissed her, gently pressing his lips against hers. When they broke apart, Belle looked up into his eyes and saw nothing but love and adoration.

"I have a surprise for you, but it will take a minute to get ready" Rumplestiltskin responded, lightly caressing her cheek.

"Okay. I was just going to make myself some hot cocoa. Would you like some?" Belle asked. Rumplestiltskin was strictly a tea man, but she decided to ask him just in case he wanted something different for a change.

"You know," Rumple hesitated "I just may have some." He leaned forward and kissed Belle on the forehead and then turned to leave, to go get her surprise ready. They had talked about giving each other their gifts on Christmas Eve instead of on Christmas day, so they could just lounge around in their pajamas all day on Christmas and not have to be bothered with presents. The dagger situation took its toll on both Rumplestiltskin and Belle, but after spending time apart, the two preferred each others' company now more than ever before. Sometimes they just stayed in bed on the weekends snuggling, sneaking kisses in between whispered I love you's. Rumplestiltskin made his way to their back deck, to make sure that everything would be ready for Belle's surprise. Overnight, while Belle slept, he decorated their deck. There was a garland with lights that wrapped around the railing of the whole deck and there were lights on two small Christmas trees that sat in the corners of the deck nearest to the house. He also had arranged their loveseat chaise lounge chair to be surrounded by it all . Scrutinizing his work,he made sure every light, every pine needle was in place and then walked over to their outdoor firepit and put a few logs in and lit them . He waited a bit till the flames got going when he remembered that he still had to add a few finishing touches. Rumplestiltskin made his way back inside silently and walked to the hall closet.

"It's almost ready" he announced, as he disappeared into the closet for a few moments and emerged.

"Oh and Belle" he paused "you should put that hot cocoa in a thermos."

Belle peeked her head around the corner from the kitchen and saw her husband walking in the opposite direction carrying two of the fuzziest blankets she had ever seen. She watched as he disappeared around the corner and went back into the kitchen to make some snacks to go with their hot cocoa. _What could he be up to?_ she wondered, smiling.

One his way back, Rumplestiltskin flicked the light switch on the wall, and the entire deck glowed. . He looked around their deck and made sure everything was in place, then went back inside to grab Belle's gift from under the Christmas tree. He placed the gift on the table next to the chaise loveseat and headed back inside to the kitchen, where Belle was.

"Okay Belle, it's ready."

"Okay let me just get your gift and I'll be ready," she said with a smile, as she placed a small bowl of marshmallows and two candy canes on the tray that held their hot cocoa. She left the kitchen for a moment and Rumplestiltskin took the tray outside and set it on the table. He came back into the house and waited for Belle. When she returned to the living room, she had a small wrapped box in her hand.

"So, what tricks have you got up your sleeve this time?" she asked.

"Just follow me out to our back deck and you will see." Rumplestiltskin replied. He held out his elbow to her and she hooked her arm through his. They walked over to their French doors and Rumplestiltskin pulled the curtains away so Belle could see outside as he pushed open the doors. Rumplestiltskin watched her as she gasped and her face lit up in a huge smile.

"Oh my goodness Rumple this is beautiful!" She turned so that she was facing him and kissed him soundly on the lips.

"You did all of this for me?"

"You deserve the best, sweetheart." Rumplestiltskin lifted his hand to caress the side of Belle's face as he studied her face. "Come, let's sit down" He led Belle over to the seat and held her hand as she sat. While she was getting settled, he took his gift from her and placed it on the table before wrapping her in one of the blanket leaving only her face and feet sticking out. Rumple moved to sit next to her. As he put his feet up on the cushion, he pulled Belle snugly into his side with one arm as he reached for Belle's gift on the table beside them.

"Do you want to open your present now and then have your cocoa, or do you want the cocoa first?" Rumple asked

"I think I'll open my present first," Belle looked at Rumple anxiously as he handed her the small box. She took the present, wrapped in beautiful, gold wrapping paper and a thick velvet red ribbon. She untied the ribbon and began to unwrap the present, a small smile on her face the whole time as Rumple watched her, awaiting her reaction. When she finally removed the paper, all that remained was a black velvet box about the size of a CD case. Belle opened the box and her face lit up. Inside lay a gold, heart-shaped locket, with a small rose charm attached. Belle opened up the locket and Rumple watched as tears filled her eyes.

"_To Belle, the true light in my life._"

"Belle." Rumple uttered, after carefully gauging her reaction "I know this year hasn't been easy for us, and it especially hasn't been easy for you. I cannot apologize to you enough for the things I put you through, the lies, the deception. You _are_ the true light of my life. You always have been, and I was foolish not to let you in sooner, and let you help me. I still cannot understand how you can love all of me, after everything I've done, everything that's happened, but I promise you this: You are the most important person in my life and I will always put you first. _Always_. I love you."

By the time Rumple had finished his short speech, tears had made their way down Belle's cheeks. Rumplestiltskin lifted his hand to tenderly wipe them away with the back of his fingers. Belle leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, tears still flowing. They stayed together for a few moments, letting their lips caress each other. When they slowly pulled apart, Belle reached up and brushed some of Rumplestiltskin's hair out of his face.

"Rumple I love you, _ALL_ of you. I always have and I always will." she said with a small grin. Her hand had moved to the back of his neck while they were kissing, and she played with the hair at the base of his neck while she studied her husbands face. There was nothing but love and humility there. Belle seemed to have remembered that Rumple hadn't opened his present yet. They were so content with sitting there, looking into each others' eyes that they didn't realize that several minutes had passed.

"You should open your present now, Rumple," Belle said shakily, pulling back a bit. She wrung her hands together nervously in her lap and looked down at the small necklace that was sitting in its box. Rumple didn't like this look. _What could it be that is causing her to react like this?_

"Are you okay sweetheart?" Rumple asked.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine," Belle replied, with a sudden shyness. She looked up at Rumple from underneath her long lashes and blushed. _My goodness, this must be some gift_, Rumplestiltskin thought. He reached over to the table where their hot cocoa was sitting, now probably cool enough to drink, and grabbed the small box. The box was about the size of a pencil case, and was wrapped in red wrapping paper that had snowflakes on it. There was a small plastic bow on the top. Rumple began to unwrap the gift and paused before opening it, to look up at Belle. She still seemed to be worried, as she was biting her bottom lip. He gave her a small reassuring smile before he looked back to the gift in his hands and proceeded to open the small box. He looked down and took out the small, white, plastic wand out and looked at it. There was a circle in the middle that had two pink lines. There was some writing next to the circle that said _Pregnant, _and _Not Pregnant_. Rumple's heart began to beat faster as he realized what he was holding in his hand. Belle was pregnant. They were going to have a child. He looked over to Belle, the breath knocked out of him and he saw that she had started to cry again, tears silently streaming down her face.

"Belle….is this? Are we going to have a child?"

"Y-yes", Belle replied, unsure.

Rumplestiltskin dropped the box and the test somewhere in the midst of the fuzzy blanket that was over his legs and pulled Belle towards him for a hug.

"Oh sweetheart, I am so happy!" he whispered into her hair, stroking her back as he held her. When he pulled back he reached to take both of her hands in his and looked her in the eyes.

"You're sure you want to have it?" Belle asked weakly

"Belle, I have dreamed of having a child with you for quite some time. Of course I want this baby. In fact," he released one of her hands to place his palm against her still flat stomach "I love him or her already"

Belle began to tear up again and moved to place a small sloppy kiss on his mouth.

"I can't wait to meet this child in 9 months time. I hope he or she looks like you, Rumple"

"I sure hope not" he replied, before making a goofy face at Belle. She giggled and lightly swatted him on the arm.

"Hey we forgot about the hot cocoa!" Belle exclaimed, as she snuggled up into her husband's side. "It's probably cold now"

"I think it will be fine" Rumple replied as he reached in-between them to locate their gifts amongst the blankets and place them on the small table. He opened up the thermos and poured some hot cocoa into both of the mugs, along with a few marshmallows, before handing it to Belle. Belle carefully took the mug from him and took a small sip.

"How does it taste?"

"Perfect" she smiled appreciatively. Even with the fire going, she was still a bit chilly. Rumplestiltskin noticed that her blanket had fallen off and moved to re-arrange it so that it was over her shoulders again. He then took his mug of hot cocoa and started to sip it.

"You're not having marshmallows Rumple?" Belle asked, feigning shock.

"I don't need marshmallows when I have something much sweeter."

Belle smiled and snuggled into the space between Rumple's neck and shoulder. Rumplestiltskin took Belle's hand in his and reached over for his own mug of cocoa with his free hand.

"I love you Rumple"

"I love you too, Belle"

As they sat in silence, sipping their hot cocoa, Belle felt something cold and wet drop onto her nose. Thinking she was feeling things, she ignored it. Then she felt another cold wet tickle on her cheek. Looking up towards the sky, she saw the small flakes start to fall. Rumple just watched her.

"It's snowing" Belle looked at the darkening sky in amazement. Rumplestiltskin looked up for himself, and sure enough, the first few flakes of snow were starting to fall.

"This is the most perfect Christmas ever," she said, as she snuggled back into Rumple's side. He placed another kiss on top of her head.

"Indeed, it is."


End file.
